The Copernican Revolution.

In the Western tradition, the idea that the sun revolves around the earth — geocentrism — is known as the Ptolemaic model. It was a notion that led people to explain astronomical observations such as the movements of planets with convoluted arguments and constructs. In 1543 Copernicus provided an alternative hypothesis — heliocentrism — which placed the sun at the center of the solar system, and was later confirmed in 1610 by Galileo Galilei. From geocentrism to heliocentrism was a “paradigm shift” (a term much abused in the modern day.) That shift in perspective allowed people to think correctly about the Solar system.

Some people in India need a paradigm shift when thinking about Dr Manmohan Singh, the unelected (and unelectable) but appointed prime minister of India.

Currently we have what I call the “integritism” model — the conjecture and assumption that Dr MM Singh is a man of honesty and integrity. I coined that term based on what the Wiki describes as “integrity“:

Integrity is a concept of consistency of actions, values, methods, measures, principles, expectations and outcomes. In ethics, integrity is regarded as the quality of having an intuitive sense of honesty and truthfulness in regard to the motivations for one’s actions.

Integritism and Hypocritism

Working under the integritism model, people come up with astonishingly stupid statements. It leads them into convoluted arguments to explain why Dr Singh appears to behave paradoxically. The equivalent of epicycles and complex mechanisms are pulled out of the bin to show that while he appears to be dishonest, he is actually not. Take for instance this article, “Why did the 2G scam occur right under Manmohan Singh’s nose,” which starts off with

Amid the growing bewilderment among all sections of the people about the succession of corruption cases tumbling out of the cupboards of the Government, one question remains an enigma, about the 2G spectrum scam. How did the admittedly and inarguably the most honest and humble Prime Minister India has seen, preside over such brazen actions of then Telecom Minister A.Raja? {Emphasis added.}

Admittedly? By whom? And inarguably? That argument has not been made ever in the Indian media. Argument by assertion is no a valid form of argument.

It is an assertion that MMS is honest, an assertion not borne out by facts. Widely known and accepted facts? Yes, the author of that article goes on at length to state facts that enormous sums have been stolen by people whom MMS directly controls. And yet the author, in contradiction to the facts that he or she presents, continues to write absolute nonsense by asserting a proposition that is contradicted by evidence. This is what is called “cognitive dissonance” in polite company, and in honest company simply called stupidity.

But all is not bleak, I think. Some people are beginning to bring about the revolution that India needs in thinking about Dr Singh. I call it the paradigm shift to “hypocritism” — from Wiki,

Hypocrisy is the state of pretending to have beliefs, opinions, virtues, feelings, qualities, or standards that one does not actually have. Hypocrisy involves the deception of others and is thus a kind of lie.

Let’s take an example of someone who has recognized the problem with integritism. Madhu Purnima Kishwar writing in Outlook in an article titled “Honestly Speaking” starts off with

I fail to understand why almost every commentator, every TV anchor, every editorial writer feels compelled to pay ritual obeisance to the “personal honesty and integrity” of Dr Manmohan Singh while dealing with the scandals emanating from his cabinet colleagues. They do so even when there is clear evidence that the Prime Minister was well aware of various shady deals, as in the case of Telecom scam, and that he did nothing to stop the brazen economic crimes indulged in by his ministerial colleagues over the last 6 years.

Corruption is not only about personally accepting monetary bribes and stacking them away in hidden bank accounts overseas, buying benami properties or accepting diamond sets for your wife. Corruption can come in insidious avatars, such as knowingly turning a blind eye to the misuse the entire machinery of governance to serve private ends of a few individuals, even to the point of endangering national security. For example, not a single person has been punished thus far for supplying sub standard bullet proof jackets to the police handling the 26/11 terrorist attack in Mumbai. Not surprisingly, we are right now witnessing yet another scam involving sub- standard bullet proof vests.

You must read Kishwar’s article to remind yourself of the laundry list of absolutely despicable corrupt acts that Dr Singh has enabled. Enabling corruption, condoning corruption, helping shield the corrupt from the consequences — that too is corruption.

The paradigm shift — pardon me for using that term — India needs is from integritism to hypocritism. The moment you posit that “Dr Manmohan Singh is a despicably dishonest man,” you can explain why scams amounting to billions of dollars are routine under his watch. It no longer is a mystery. In another country where the people are vigilant and care about truth, honesty and integrity, he would have been impeached and locked up. Well, if not locked up, he would have been tarred and feathered.

Taking Credit under False Pretexts

I was asked the other day when did I reached the conclusion that perhaps Dr Singh was indeed a truly despicably dishonest man. It was years ago that I had heard from absolutely reliable sources that when he was the finance minister in P.V. Narasimha Rao’s government, he had brought to PVNR a budget that was just a re-hash of the socialist nonsense that previous governments had been following. PVNR took a look at it and told Dr Singh that it was garbage and he should frame one which will liberalize the Indian economy.

Dr Singh, the unimaginative bureaucrat that he was (and is), did as he was told. So essentially the liberalization of the Indian economy was PVNR’s idea, not Dr MM Singh’s. I did not care either way: liberalization was good and I was happy that at least India became a somewhat liberalized economy. But as time went on, I noticed that Dr Singh started taking credit for something that he probably did not even support, leave alone being the author of. I realized that he lacked integrity. The Copernican Revolution had happened in my mind. What was missing was Galileo’s telescope to see the evidence.

That started coming out. Scam after scam and Dr MM Singh was there to oversee them all. Yes, it was clear that he was truly a despicably dishonest man. Proof that he had fancy little to do with liberalization aside from taking dictation is also there if only we care to see. He has not done one bit of liberalization. In fact quite the contrary. Look around and see.

Dr Brown Nose

I cannot imagine a less honest person. He follows orders. And he is the master of brown-nosery. I recall reading what he said about the “National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme” — that was “Sonia Gandhi’s gift to the country.”

WTF-ery does not get more acute.

NREGA is a income-distribution scheme. Our incomes are taxed and then the government spends it on giving money to people for getting their votes. Where does Antonia Maino aka Sonia Gandhi come in? Does all the tax money go into her personal bank account and become her personal property? And then she takes a few billion from her personal account in a Swiss bank and pay for NREGA? WHISKEY. TANGO. FOXTROT.

Did the Indian media ever ask Dr Singh what he meant by saying that Sonia Gandhi gave it as a gift to India? No. The main stream Indian media has great people like Vir Sanghvi and Barkha Dutt (ach Poo!).

Dr Divide and Rule

Dr MM Singh is a despicably dishonest person. His is the politics of divisiveness. He is dividing the country along religious lines just to keep his Muslim vote bank intact. He addresses the nation not as “My dear fellow Indians” but as “My dear Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians” etc. What a fucking (pardon my French) douchebag.

Now if you will excuse me, I will have to end this as I feel nauseated just talking about MMS. I have to go and throw up — which is a pity since I had a good breakfast and now it will all go down the tube. It is a pity that India had a lot of promise but MMS has flushed it down the tube.

Related Posts:

1. Manmohan Singh is a Despicably Dishonest Man. May 2010.

2. Manmohan Singh is really and truly a Despicably Dishonest Man. June 2010.